Dearest I'm So Sorry
by VampiricxTasy
Summary: SasuNaru Fanfic : Supposedly well, according to me Naruto and Sasuke have encountered each other before the three year gap. they have been trapped in a Dark Realm, their friendship grows...larger than anyone expected.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIM:**_Hello! I don't own this anime(: thought I should put this out ;D Masashi Kishamoto's characters, settings, and Justus (: So I hope you like it. –Kay_

**NOTE:**_I'd like to dedicate this story to Austin Dunn! The most amazingly attractive bass player ever to live; D and also 'the guy with the hairy chest' as we people call him ;D_

Chapter One: Morals Undefined

Walking away was the hardest thing, and turning back to see what I've left behind made it even more excruciatingly difficult. The last time I saw that orange jumpsuit blond was when I looked behind me to see him lying down, vulnerable, helpless. This was the perfect time to finish him off and claim the power needed to finally dispose of that ruthless rouge I've been deceived to call my brother for the first six years of my life.

My last glance caught a glimpse of a single beam of radiant light hitting his headband, and slowly shrinking to become nothing but a shadow of a cloud. A single drop hit my eye—or is that a tear? —And I left, Konoha was now my past, and I won't return until I prove myself worthy.

I dashed off into the forest making sure none of Kakashi's hounds can't track down my scent. That, was the last time I saw Naruto…

"My, how painful that must have been…" Kabuto tried to synthesis, completely failing.

"You wouldn't know, you've never had to leave anyone important to you! All you ever are is a toy for Orochimaru to play with! Your master is all you need!" I countered, letting my raven hair go flat as it collided to a stiff pillow.

Kabuto growled. "Lord Orochimaru! You're so ungrateful! The Lord is giving you all you ever wanted, power! Do you think as the last Uchiha to be in Konoha you can just have what you want? My master only gives power to those who respect and acknowledges his being. That attitude will get you nowhere, Uchiha Sasuke," he got a pot of boiling water and poured it on my face.

"Gah!" I said as the steaming liquid burnt my cheek, I covered my face with my hands being careful not to apply too much pressure to my charred side of my face. As I released my hand out of my face, I looked at my reflection of my ashy face in the glass. My curse mark spread to my face, almost eating the ashes from my face and replacing them with fresh, new skin.

"You consider this an opportunity of a life time, not many can have this shot. With this energy, Uchiha Itachi will be exterminated in a flash," he says.

My eyes widened, my interest caught. Ever since he slaughtered our entire clan, that's always been my dream: To eliminate Itachi Uchiha.

"I thought so," Kabuto read me. I glared at him angrily. I hate the feeling of an open book. I felt vulnerable, all my tactics and feelings exposed for everyone to view and counter. "Well, training begins tomorrow at six. You better be up, Lord Orochimaru isn't the most… even-tempered One," he mentioned 'One' thinking 'person' is to… weak of a word to describe someone as 'brilliant' as him. With one quick hand sign, he vanished into a cloud of smoke before I could blink.

I slammed my palms to my thighs. "Damn him!" I cursed digging my nails into my flesh; slowly the blood stained the sheets covering me. I retracted my hands and began to grab fistfuls of my hair and pull.

I was restless all night, debating weather to sneak out of this place and just hunt Itachi down. A quarter of that night, I spent a quarter of my night planning my hegira and the next reconsidering.

5:30 and I haven't even closed my eyes for a moment. I stood up straight, rethinking my final decision for the fiftieth time. I closed my eyes and tried to configure where I was. A cave, no, more like a labyrinth made from earth. No one was around except Kabuto who was about two kilometer's away from the room I was in. My idea from the first quarter of the night would go perfect with this condition. I get my hands ready to unleash my chidori. On my last hand sign, I've came to my FINAL decision…

I put my hands down and sighed. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," gracefully hissed a familiar, cynical voice. I turned to the left, rocky wall where a three-meter black-purple warp hole appeared and their stepped Orochimaru. Funny, I'd think his bow on his back would make it a challenge to make it through that hole.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, helpless, knowing my defeat set Orochimaru's plan in motion.

"We must first teach you how to summon serpents. It's quite easy," he lightly touches me arm, sending a wave of shock through my veins, and transported us to a carter—seemed to be created from a forest that's been blasted away. "This will be perfect," he says as he put his palms on the ground and summoned a cobra the emerged from the earth.

The serpent hissed viciously at me and then turned to its master. Something was bulging in its yellow belly. It slowly crawled up the snake's body and as it opened its mouth, it revealed a locked scroll covered in the snake's poisoned saliva. Using just its throat, it shock putted it three or four kilometers in the air. As the snake buried itself back into the ground, Orochimaru caught the scroll, saliva free.

"This," Orochimaru began as he unleashed the seal on it, "is the scroll of Summoning Serpents." He slowly unraveled it as showed names written in blood with a handprint underneath it. "These are all the names of the people who have dedicated their life to the Snake. Wielding their power, agility, and wisdom in their way of the Shinobi." At the very end was Orochimaru's signature with his handprint. I unraveled the rest and saw one empty spot for my name. "You must sign your name in blood on the box on top and on the bottom, you press your fingers."

I looked carefully and then bit into my thumb through the skin. Using my chakra, was able to bleed more then usual to be able to write everything. I signed my name as he told me.

Next, I covered all my fingers with the blood of my thumb. I pressed all my fingers against the bottom box and released. I have completed the pact and the scroll disappeared.

"Congratulations, you have now harnessed the power of the snake," Orochimaru clapped.

"Why can't I feel the power?" I hissed, disappointed. "How come I don't feel the enormous power Naruto had summoning the toad?"

"Patients, Sasuke," Orochimaru whispered caressing his finger on my skin. Never in my life have I felt as uncomfortable as before. "Now use these hand signs," he showed me seven basic ones. "Then press your palm on the ground and say…" he threw his hand over his head, and with all his power, slammed it onto the dirt, yelling, "Kuchiyoso No Jutsu! The Art of Summoning!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and I was not pleased how slowly it took for the giant snake to come out of the ground. I didn't even look scary. It kind of reminded my of Orochimaru. Scaly and old. It made a loud hissing sound and spit out a sword that was nearly inches away from stabbing me. Luckily, I'm not that stupid. I knew Orochimaru wouldn't hurt me for his life.

Until a few moments later. He caught the sword in one second, and the next, the blade had already gone through the skin of my throat. I've never felt death so palpable in my life. I even thought, the blade was going deeper, making it hurt more then it looked.

"Tsk, Tsk. Sasuke," he says as he kept the blade about a centimeter in my skin. Small sweat drops formed in my forehead and my breathing accelerated. "You're superiority must stop. Now."

The blade sunk deeper into my skin a centimeter more, but to my body, my head feels disconnected from my body already. "Gah!" I groaned as I cough some blood into his hand that was holding the blade.

"As of the time you decided not to escape, even though the opportunity was fruitful, you chose to gain my ability, so you will consider me your master," he finally pulled the blade out of my throat. The feeling was complete bliss and I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"We'll take a break, you come back here in exactly five hours from now. I have some… plotting to do," he disappeared into thin air as I was left to catch my breath. But every moment I was loosing more and more blood. As I fell into unconsciousness, I replayed Orochimaru's little lesson in my head, trying to find the hidden meaning in the words.

Ever since Itachi killed our—no my—clan, I have been a lot more…predominant. I guess I've been lying to myself all those years. The only reason I acted like this was because I thought big brother left me cause he knew I can take him out. Being the last survivor, people looked at my like a child prodigy. A child surviving the Uchiha Massacre. I felt powerful. And because people believed in that, I was treated like a hero, the strongest one out there.

However, in reality, the only reason why he left me was because I was too weak. He could've killed me right there and then but I wasn't worthy. He left me alive so he might be able to get a better challenge the next time we encounter each other.

Sadly, I have once again proved my self-defenseless. Not only was I knocked out so quickly, he wasn't even after me! He's been searching for Naruto! Another person I must surpass to prove myself.

I was missing the point all this time. Itachi tried to show me that when we saw each other in the motel, what Naruto had been trying to tell me in Final Valley, what Orochimaru told me this morning, hell, even what Kakashi had been trying to teach me during the survival exercise: Thinking your powerful will get you nowhere, you have to get it in motion.

As I opened my eyes, blasting away from my epiphany, I found myself back in the room Kabuto put me in after my battle with Naruto. I stood up straight and smirked.

_Orochimaru better be ready_, I thought. _I might have set his pinwheel in motion by not escaping but by making me follow him, he's set me in motion as well… _


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIM:**_Hello! I don't own this anime(: thought I should put this out ;D Masashi Kishamoto's characters, settings, and Justus (: So I hope you like it. –Kay_

**NOTE:**_I'd like to dedicate this story to Austin Dunn! The most amazingly attractive bass player ever to live; D and also 'the guy with the hairy chest' as we people call him ;D_

Chapter Two: Suspended

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Soon, thirteen months passed very quickly. No matter how many minutes I spend away from Naruto, my mind still wouldn't process the fact that when I wake up another morning, he wouldn't be waiting in the bridge we'd always meet up to annoy me with that smile. Well, at least I pretended to be annoyed. Ever since I've started my new life, the thing I've missed most was that dunce's nonsense.

Today was rare. Nothing Orochimaru would normally do. A day off. The idea amused me at first, I was sick of everyday ending off in me almost dying and the creepy pedophile saving my ass. But as the day progressed, I realized I was being childish. I needed the training more then ever. How will I surpass Itachi when I slack off?

I've decided to sneak into the training ground just underneath the labyrinth. It was like a coliseum. Oval shaped with hundreds of bleachers surrounding the perimeter. This place was known as 'The World That Never Was'. It was absolutely dark, the only thing lighting it: a single torch. It was almost like being inside me.

I have mastered the Art of Summoning. As I slapped my palm to the ground, thousands of serpents sprang from the ground and hiss viciously at me. I unleashed me Shadingan which made them all flinched. I closed my eyes, so I can concentrate more on my hearing. One hundred fifteen snaked east, five hundred seventy five to the west, three hundred one north, and only three giant ones south. I've been practicing this Jutsu from the moment I realized I can surpass Kakashi, at even his own art.

A year and a half, I trained with Kakashi up in the mountains. That was the first time I truly experienced hell—until I came here. Everyday, I felt like I was going to die. My schedule would be make three Chidoris, exhaust all my chakra to the point where I could die if I even moved, rest for as little time as possible, then repeat. It was like that every single day, until I finally got it right. Now that I've done that same exact plan with a more power Chidori, I have surpassed Kakashi.

I got my hand signs ready. "Tsuchi kaihou no Jutsu! Art of Earth opening!" Soon, the rocky roof above me separated revealing the clouds in the sky. Just regular clouds? We'll have to do something about that.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" I yell. I make a circle using my right thumb and index finger and hold it next to my mouth. I inhale and much air as I can, and exhale giant spheres of flames into the clouds. Using logic, the cold air will mix with the flames temperature creating a Stratocumulus cloud—a cloud that usually indicates a storm coming.

"Kirin!" I get all the lightning power I could get and bash It into the earth. It was a bit too bright to see, but the snakes all disincarnated into ashes as the electric current hit the ground.

When everything was clear, I had one more Jutsu I had to do, just to make sure Orochimaru didn't know I didn't rest. "Ushiro no Jutsu, Art of Rewind…" I whispered as the battlefield returned to its original state and the earth closed up above me, make the coliseum seem new again.

Exhausted, I fell flat on my chest trying to gasp for breath. I don't remember a time I've used so much energy trying out four powerful Jutsus. I was… proud of myself. I slowly closed my eyes… falling into a soothing, relaxing unconsciousness.

I was eighty percent sure that I was dreaming. It was either that, or some weird genjutsu Orochimaru is testing out. Everything was a spiral cool tie-dye colors spinning around, almost dizzying. In front of me was Orochimaru, looking as cynical as ever with his true self. His head in a scaly snakes body.

"Sssssssssssasssssssssssssuke," he hissed. "What a pleassssssssssent sssssssssurpissssssssssse."

I nodded as a gesture.

"Do you know where you are?"

"No."

"Kabuto hasssssssssssssss put you in the Village hidden in the ."

"Kuragarigakure?"

"Yessssssssssssssssss, this placccccccccccccccccccccce is also known as the Home of the Rouge. Not just rouge, S-ranks. If you were still the frail Sasuke of twelve, they'd probably kill you faster than that Kirin of yours."

"What is the purpose of you bring me here?"

"I can't handle you at the moment, I have domination to plan and I don't have time to train you. So, you must train yourself. If you could survive in this realm for a month, we will proceed to your sword."

My eyes wandered up to him, humored. The legendary sword of seven vipers. Legend has it that it was created by the first ever snake summoner. Any contact between the blade and the victim's blood stream can kill the target in eleven seconds.

"Be warned, there is an evil rouge lurking in the shadows. He goes by Cruentus Aisu. The reason for so many not making it back to their village from there is because Cruentus has… devoured them."

"Why such a strong word as 'devoured'?"

"Because…" he cringed—I've never seen him so… disgusted in my life—as if trying to repress a disturbing memory. "Cruentus is a cannibal."

"Oh." I've met a cannibal before, but to make Orochimaru the disturbed, this must be grotesque.

"I wish you luck," the same time he vanished, my eyes opened into a forest. I knew for sure I was In the Village hidden in the Darkness… because even though you could tell it was clearly morning, it felt like being inside a house with a single window and all the lights are turned off.

The forest was visible, still. You can tell that there were trees, animals, wind, but it was eerie. Strangely, I felt like this was where I did belong for a while. Dark and quite with no one around to disturb me. I could train for hours and hours and even when I'm at the dying point, I can still be happy with just lying down.

The Darkness felt safe. Almost like a sanctuary to me. But where there is an enormous amount of happiness and tranquility, there's a demon stalking in the shadows. The cannibal was out their somewhere.

I had no time to worry. I didn't scene his chakra anywhere near, so the close was clear… until I felt perfectly relaxed.

It hit me. Hit me harder than a shurriken to the heart. I felt an enormous amount of Chakra. Almost the same amount as I had. I got ready for battle getting into defensive stance. Was this the cannibal Orochimaru warned me about? It can't be. To make him shiver like that, he had to be at least twice the power as this force.

Or had I gotten this strong already. If the cannibal and my power were the same, I could surely take Orochimaru down!

Crap! My superior side was acting up again. I thought I learned not the be so cocky. The bushed moved once again.

"Whose there!?" I asked. A big red creature with almost claw like hands pounced and was ready to jump on me. I was a little petrified to move and it got me. I surely thought it was the cannibal ready to consume me. Why the hell am I so weak?

I was nailed to the ground, but no serious damage has been done besides a scratch on my arm. I shut my eyes tight, bracing myself for the pain of being eaten alive. As time passed, I realized something.

Why isn't he attacking? He's got me right where he wants, why aren't me arms out of their sockets being chewed up? I opened my eyes to find the most surprising thing ever.

"S-Sasuke?" it asked sheepishly. The blond hair and new orange and black jumpsuit gave his identity away quickly.

"Naruto." I simply say, hiding my shock.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIM:**_Hello! I don't own this anime(: thought I should put this out ;D Masashi Kishamoto's characters, settings, and Justus (: So I hope you like it. –Kay_

**NOTE:**_I'd like to dedicate this story to Austin Dunn! The most amazingly attractive bass player ever to live; D and also 'the guy with the hairy chest' as we people call him ;D_

Chapter Three: Blissful

"I…I never thought I'd see you again," he shivered in that same raspy voice, a bit deeper then before. Had he grown up this much in only a little more then a year? Part of me was ecstatic to have Naruto in my presence, the other didn't want to believe that this power was him.

"M-My neither," I nodded. It may be dark, but his eyes lit the way. His perfect crystal blue eyes. I always lost myself in the whirlpool of wonder. They were like looking through the eyes of an infant. So much curiosity about the world, so young to understand the full concept of it. He's also grown in height. My height almost! His baby features have turned into more adult ones. His muscles were much more visible and…

"Sasuke?" he called. I snapped out of my hypnosis to get back into the dark, spooky reality of Darkness. "Something the matter?"

I tried to hold my blush, repressing everything thing on my mind that one moment. "No, it's just… I didn't expect to find you here."

He chuckled. Something about his laugh made me smile. A smile I haven't used since my clan was destroyed. I was relived to see him again. To hear his voice, to smell his scent…

"Well, the realm of Darkness isn't where I expected to find you either," he says. He lies down on the grass and the patch next to him, encouraging me to sit next to him. I did as he pleased.

"I thought I'd lost you to…. him," Naruto gulped. Obviously uneasy for him to talk about it.

I nodded.

"Will you come back? With me? Sakura and the others are all waiting for you. Tsuande won't do anything, maybe some unsatisfying D-ranks, but either way the village is willing to welcome you back with open arms."

I sighed. I'd love to say. _Yes, I'd love to come back home. It's been hell away from Konoha_. But instead I said, "No. I'm sorry Naruto, but I need this training, you have to understand tha-"

"NO! I won't! Sasuke! Don't you realize Orochimaru will never give you the power you want? This is just a way to prepare you for the body exchange! Sasuke, please!" he pleaded. I saw the sadness in his eyes. I desperately wanted to agree.

"Naruto, you're just going to have to go with me on this. Orochimaru won't take my body. In two years from now I'll be Sasuke, ten years I'll be me, even as we die I am Sasuke," I explained. His eyes were moist and I can almost feel the water on my own. I wasn't entirely positive about my statement.

"Do you promise?" Shit. I know I can't do this. But I composed my self and looked him in the eye, apathetically.

"You better know it, dork," I say, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

All Naruto's perfect teeth showed in a dazzling grin. His happiness must have been contagious, because a few seconds later I giggled harder then ever before.

"Alright! I believe in you, Sasuke-kun," he whispers. Oh dear god, he used the whole _kun_ thing. I couldn't help but blush as the Blondie giggled and gave me something I know we both weren't ready for: a hug.

His arms encircled my torso. He gave me a gently squeeze. For a moment, I was too star struck to believe that any of this was happening, but as I smelt Naruto's husky scent, everything became clear. I felt… loved. I'd always say how much of a weakness it's been, but right ay this very moment, it just strengthened me.

I circled my arms around his torso and hugged with the same strength. I could tell he was smiling by the way his jaw moved on my shoulder. Realizing what we've both down, we pulled away. I turned around and blushed. The hug was almost… I don't know the word. Happy? No, too weak. Exciting? Nah, too strong.

Trying to strike a conversation, I blabbed out, "So, how'd you get here?"

"Well, after about a year of being with Ero-Senni*, I started to find what I thought was vigorous training last year, to boring drills.

" I told him I'm going to be the hokage some day, I need a challenge that will really test my Jutsus and stamina. You know what I mean? Everyday can't always be get a move, master it, learn a new mover, master that. Over and over and over again. Monotonous isn't it?"

I nodded, full heartedly. It was weird how we were so far apart, yet living almost in the same circumstances.

"The old pervert took time thinking about it. Finally he says that he does need time to write his new,"—he makes air quotation marks in the air—" 'adult novel' for his book series, so he decided to give me a survival challenge.

"So I was sent here. Ero-Senni trained her for a while. Told me it was hell, but a lot darker. This was an opportunity I just couldn't pass. I had to accept.

"So I got here and training as been a lot more… relaxing now. You can train as hard as you want, and still feel no pain."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Uzumaki," I smiled. His melodic voice sent me buoyant. It was an unbelievable sensation I still couldn't put together in one word.

"So, what brings you here, Uchiha-san?" he asked.

"I'm hear on special training, too," I say. "I guess teammates think alike, because Orochimaru was pretty busy too and he sent me here to get more training."

Words turned into hours, and the day passed by while we were still in the midst of a deep conversation about our special Jutsus. Best conversation ever!

"It's getting dark," Naruto blabbed, obviously not thinking.

"It's always dark, dumbass," I laugh and he laughs too. "Where are you crashing?"

"Where I always crash. Underneath wherever my feet take me and lie down under the stars," he explains. He plopped on the grass and lay down. "Care to join me?"

I shrugged not seeing what we so wrong with it. I lay down beside him, closing my eyes and breathing his scent. I opened my eyes and this had to be a miracle. There were stars in the sky. Bright, twinkling stars in the sky!

"Whoa!"

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, suddenly we were both looking at each other. That's weird. I don't remember me turning my head or him moving from his spot.

"There are stars in the sky," I say.

"Your hallucinating, the only thing I see is a bright glimmering moon," he says. I look at him with a puzzled look and looked up to see nothing.

"What?" I ask, looking back at him.

He bit his lip, as if he revealed a deep, dark secret. "Just pulling your leg. No there are no stars in the sky. It's darkness. Not one beam of light exists in this world besides fire.

"You know, that's the smartest idea you've ever popped into my head," I say. I stood up and turned to a tree. I compressed all my fingers together and made a blade with my hand. I unleashed a bit of chakra into the blow from my hand to the tree. At first glanced, it's like I didn't ever touch it. Blink, and the tree shows a small white line that divided the stump from the trunk.

"Damn…" Naruto gasped as he stood up. I chopped all of them into firewood-sized pieces.  
"Care to do the honors?" I asked.

"Love to," he replies. He does a few hand signs. "Fire style: Baby Dragon Jutsu." He merely blew into the wood a small but alive flame sparkled like hot waves. "Ah, toasty."

"Yeah," I sighed as I collapsed in front of the fire. Naruto followed right beside me.

"I-I've really missed you," Naruto says, sheepishly. Damn, it's so cute. I couldn't help but blush at the sound.

"Back attcha," I replied. I looked at his eyes again and saw a twinkling.

He was the stars. The bright, beautiful stars I thought were in the sky. I was so tempted to just stroke his cheek and look closer.

My hand was suddenly leaning for his cheek. I couldn't help it. I needed to…

"Sasuke?"

"Huh?"

"You okay?"

I put my hand down and looked the other way, embarrassed. "Fine."


End file.
